Yet, we keep updating everyone on the lack of change. From league sources NBC Sports has spoken with through daily reports from various, well-connected NBA news breakers, there is no movement on the James Harden or Damian Lillard trade fronts. Today’s update comes from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, who had a new tidbit of info and a good roundup of where things stand for Harden and the 76ers.
Amick also reported Harden has not changed his mind, his trade request stands.
We know Morey is willing to let things get uncomfortable and play the long game — that’s how he got Harden in the first place. He waited out an awkward Ben Simmons situation with the former All-Star away from the team until the deal he wanted fell into place. On the other hand, we also know Harden can make things more uncomfortable for the team he doesn’t want to be with. Things could get dramatic, but it wouldn’t play out until training camp in September.
Lillard still wants to go to Miami, Portland’s front office still doesn’t like Miami’s offer, and Blazers GM Joe Cronin spent Summer League seeing what the rest of the market for Lillard looked like, Amick said. Like Morey, Cronin said he would wait “months and months” to get a deal done. The market for Lillard is not nearly as strong as Portland hoped, although Jake Fischer at Yahoo Sports suggested Utah could take on Tyler Herro (who the Trail Blazers do not want) for another first-round pick and they could be the facilitator to get the deal done. However, right now the talks are not close.
It looks like all of this will drag out closer to training camp at the least, if not into the season itself. There will continue to be updates, just don’t expect movement for a while.
